QTips: How to Wear All White

Today I got a text from one of my friends asking me what type of shoes and belt should be worn with a white suit. This is just in time (though Diddy may have already had his) for parties to have "all white" dress codes. I have already given you advice on seersucker, so now its time to go over my 5 basic rules for wearing white outfits in the summer.

1. Make sure the whites match!! The best way to ensure this, is to buy the white pants and jacket together as a suit. Don't go to one store and buy white pants, and then hope to find a jacket somewhere else on sale.. chances are one white will be darker than the other.

2. Don't wear white athletic socks or black socks with white pants! Make sure your socks match your shoes, or if you want to spruce it up, throw on a pair of pastel colored socks... Again this is for the stylish and unabashed.

3. The only color shoes allowed with all white (unless you're Diddy) are White, tan, and brown. By brown, I mean lighter shades, not cocoa brown. Loafers are the best choice for white suits, only because white suits are less formal than your staple colors, so lace-up dress shoes make the outfit a bit too stuff and formal.

4. Wear the right color shirt! Stick to lighter colors and thin stripes when matching your shirts with your white suit. Darker shirts call for darker shoes, and that puts you in harm's way of violating rule #3.

5. When it comes to white outfits, the shoes and belt must match! Recently, style rules are allowing the shoes and belt to be different colors. But by the shoes and belt matching, it helps break the monotony of the white outfit, especially if you aren't wearing white shoes. Also, in the event that you violated rule #1, it will help hide the fact that your jacket and pants don't really match.

The same guy gave me a very wise observation about white outfits. "White suits are dangerous and shouldn't be worn for a long period of time" This is exactly true. If you are planning to go to an event that lasts longer than three hours, then you may want to stay away from wearing white. Mainly because you are prone to get a stain on it, and the more you are outside for the summer, the more you sweat, and the bigger the risk of a huge dirt ring to emerge around your wrists and neckline.